Every day, Upper School students run to the cafeteria, trying to make it there before the lunch lines pile up. Lunchtime is some students ‘ favorite time of day because it is a chance for them to take a break and eat a delicious meal. But often, students eat their lunch without thinking about the hard work and time that goes into planning these meals each day. At Woodward, the dining staff works together to plan the menu, source ingredients, and make sure that each student has a meal available to them, no matter their preferences or allergies. Each dining service member works behind the scenes of the cafeteria, taking the time and making the effort to ensure each student is satisfied with each meal the school has to offer.
The importance of a healthy, balanced school menu is no secret. Research about the importance of a balanced school menu is abundant. School Nutrition Association, a non-profit organization that shares facts and Benefits of School Lunches, gives helpful insight into just how important school lunch really is. Woodward knows these benefits of a balanced menu, which is why they have a staff working together to make sure students are supported and have what they need each day for lunch.
Director of Dining Services, Carol Cottrell, oversees the cafeterias and all of their planning, including creating the lunch menus. Typically, the lunch menu is planned on a 12-week lunch schedule that rotates throughout the year. However, the lunch menu is very loosely based on this schedule and often changes based on numerous factors.
“We’ll have to change things depending on what’s going on in [on] the calendar,” Mrs. Cottrell said. “We also try and, you know, add in some new items every now and then, or we’ll just put some seasonal things in, as far as you know, fresh vegetables and produce.”
The lunch menu also changes based on student opinions. Over the summer, dining service reviews the year to take into account which lunches were popular, which were disliked and the current food trends. Dining services often look into what is trending among teens and integrate those ideas into the menu.
“In the last couple of years, I mean, K-Pop was a huge thing, and Korean anything,” Mrs. Cottrell said. “So we, you know, ‘let’s add some Korean food because students are interested in Korean food.’”
When dining services are considering students, they also have to account for age ranges, student preferences, and dietary needs while still providing a balanced meal. They struggle with what students like while still trying to provide healthy meals. To accomplish this, dining services provide new foods and meals that students have not tried before.
“If you look at the menus, yes… you’ve got your pizza and your burgers,” said Mrs. Cottrell, “but you’ve got your days where it’s a grilled chicken, and it’s a healthier mix of items.”
They also take into account the different dietary restrictions students have and create new meals to accommodate their dietary needs. For example, for students who are vegetarian, vegan, gluten or dairy, dairy-free, or kosher, there is an option for you. Each day, they make options to the main menu that don’t include main allergens so that everyone with restrictions can find many options each day.
“We offer a vegan option every day, vegetarian, obviously, gluten-free,” said Mrs. Cottrell. “[We] mak[e] sure that someone that is gluten-free has enough choice.”
To help come up with new ideas for the menu, Mrs. Cottrell also meets with SGA leaders frequently to discuss menu changes and make sure the students are still happy with the meals. However, Mrs. Cottrell says that they are still trying to find ways to receive student opinion more effectively.
“I think there is definitely more opportunity for us to get student input,” Mrs. Cottrell said. “It’s really a case of finding the time to figure out some really effective ways of doing it.”
The complications of running Dining Services do not stop with finding menu ideas; the staff also has to produce them. Kitchen staff are constantly cutting fresh fruits, vegetables and preparing meals that include fresh foods that must be prepared a certain way, resulting in many scraps being left behind. With this amount of scraps and food pieces, Mrs. Cottrell and her team had to come up with a way to minimize waste as much as possible.
“We also [use] a program called Compost Now, in which we take all the scraps, and it’s just small amounts of leftover foods, plus all the scraps when we were preparing [food],” Mrs. Cottrell said.
Bernard Norton, associate director of Dining Services, who’s been working at Woodward for the past 20 years, is in charge of keeping track of how much food must be produced each day, accounting for events and other situations that may affect these numbers. This data includes information such as the production numbers and student interests, which is based on the amount of stock bought versus how much students consumed. The dining services plan out the meals based on this data.
“I basically just put in the production numbers,” Mr. Norton said. “You know, what’s daily? How many?”
Every day, Mr.Norton, along with the assistance of Mrs. Cottrell, creates a spreadsheet that directs the kitchen staff on how much food to order and cook, but they frequently have to readjust to deal with different circumstances.
“You know, sometimes you have field trips going out for certain times, so they don’t need what’s on the main menu,” Mr. Norton said, “So we reduce those numbers and everything.” To keep track of these events, the kitchen staff uses a monthly calendar to plan out the different meals. On top of cooking for the entire high school, the kitchen often does Woodward events for the staff or clubs, as well as special events. October, for example, was extra busy for Dining Services, especially near the end of football and Homecoming season. The staff had to cook for the… Alumni Tailgate, as well as for the Homecoming Court, football and band dinners.
Another problem the staff deals with is changes in taste. At Woodward, students’ taste buds and desires often change, and meals that were unpopular a few weeks before suddenly are in high demand the next month. In many cases, when these meals run out in the cafeteria line, it’s hard to make more in a timely manner, so the kitchen always has backup plans ready to go.
“One thing is, we always have a plan B written, so Plan B is, if it’s… an item you cannot make more or fast, a good plan B is always chicken tenders, having the fryers going with the oil hot,” Mrs. Cottrell said.
When juggling all these different events and fluctuations in taste, Mr. Norton is always trying to make sure his numbers are as accurate and up to date as possible, but when there have been miscalculations in the amount of food needed, he has a way to deal with the rest. All the untouched food from the cafeteria is sent to the church in Hapeville to help support the homeless and people in need of food.
“We got a church that we do, donation places that we do,” Mr. Norton said.
Other items that are still usable in a few days, Mr. Norton saves and adds to meals later in the week for Woodward students.
“Like, if there’s something that we can repurpose, we will, not in the next day, but, like, say, a lot of times we put it in a soup or something,” Mr. Norton said.
The kitchen staff works hard at their job, but they are always looking for suggestions from the students around campus, so hearing one-on-one from the students is helpful for Dining Services.
Marissa Jones ’27 has a positive view of the school lunches and believes that they cater to what students need. Most days, she is able to find something to eat from all that they are serving.
“Yeah, I think they’re pretty good,” Marissa said. “When I ask for seconds, they give me seconds.”
Meanwhile, Ziva Effron ’28 gave some positives and negatives of the lunches Woodward has to offer.
“Some of them are pretty solid,” Ziva said.
Ziva shared her favorite foods from the cafeteria sandwich bar and rotating menu.
“My go-to: the croissant sandwich…and the pulled pork sandwiches,” Ziva said.
The dining service staff is always trying to find the most efficient ways to communicate with students, and they are always making sure students are able to reach out to them with questions, requests, or concerns. Mrs. Cottrell shared the best way for them to get student input so they can create a better lunch experience for everyone.
“There is a little note on the [Nutrislice] menu that does say, if you’ve got any feedback or questions, contact us…,” Mrs. Cottrell said. “We’re always trying to improve the menu. If you have any feedback, get in touch.”
